14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Greenpeace announced that Lukoil, i.e. Russia's second largest oil company and second largest oil producer, had been ordered to pay a fine of $20 million (€14.76 million) for polluting natural ecosystems in the Komi Republic.
On its website, the organization details that, according to its investigations, the oil giant is to blame for most of the oil spills that occur in said region.
Hence, it is the chief culprit behind the destruction of vast areas of the Komi Republic.
Interestingly enough, it would appear that, had it not been for Greenpeace, these spills might have gone unnoticed.
Thus, environmentalists working with the organization were the ones who first picked up on them, and then alerted authorities.
“The Indigenous Peoples of Russia’s Komi Republic are celebrating a rare victory today, after one of the oil companies that has been polluting their traditional land, was finally held to account.”
“Lukoil, one of the oil companies behind most of the spills in the region, has been ordered by a Russian court to pay a fine of 20 million USD for the destruction their spills have caused,” Greenpeace writes on its website.
“The oil spills were investigated and identified by Greenpeace Russia, and then confirmed by a local nature protection prosecutor,” it details. Greenpeace and its supporters congratulate Russian authorities for their decision to make Lukoil pay for the damage it has caused to ecosystems in the Komi Republic.
The environmentalists would very much prefer it if the oil industry were to be pulled the plug on altogether.
Still, since the chances that this will happen sometime in the not so distant future are pretty much slim to none, they have no choice but to rejoice at the thought that, every once in a while, big companies like Lukoil get what they deserve.
As explained on the organization's website, “The fine doesn’t make it right, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction for the Komi Peoples who have long been ignored or forgotten by the Russian government.”